Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I have had an incredibly difficult year regarding my mental and physical health, starting in first semester of the 2018-19 school year. In September I developed a skin virus that went undiagnosed until December after the exam period (once I had returned home to Calgary). In October I developed a second skin virus that also was not diagnosed by the Kingston clinic I visited to try to resolve these issues. As you could imagine, it was extremely difficult to be showing physical symptoms of two viral infections at once and not having the slightest idea what it was, or how to treat it. As someone who has grappled with anxiety since I was 16 years old, it caused me to spiral, and my anxiety hit an all time low. I pushed through to the end of first semester, but hardly slept, and hardly ever left my house as my anxiety was so debilitating. When I was finally diagnosed, and treated by my family doctor back home in December, I hoped that my anxiety would reduce, and that I would be more than fine to complete the winter semester. However, when I returned to Queen¿¿s in January, I had an increasingly difficult time. My anxiety symptoms weren¿¿t getting any better and there were two different two-week periods where I barely even left my room, nor was I able to complete schoolwork, or attend classes. This caused me to miss almost every midterm exam or test I had during the semester. I began exhibiting symptoms of depression as well, as my doctor recently wrote in my extenuating circumstances form. It¿¿s really been a difficult year for me. I have never been a student who really excelled and reached their full potential at Queen¿¿s, but I had hoped this year would be different because I finally had entered a program I loved and was excited about. I¿¿ve never been someone to ask for help, I¿¿ve always just tried to push through and put my best product forward despite any adversity. This past semester though, I was completely unable to do so, and I don¿¿t want my GPA to be completely ruined from that. I¿¿m so close to completing my degree, and prior to this year I was hoping to be done by the end of this summer. A wrench has been thrown in my plans, but I¿¿m okay with that if I¿¿m finding ways to get better mentally, and therefore do better academically as well. I know that asking for two failed grades to be dropped from my transcript is asking a lot, but I¿¿m at a loss of what to do other than this. If any support from a professor is necessary, you may speak to Dr. Una D¿¿Elia, as she has expressed she is more than willing to help me with this process as well.

With regards to what I have done to help the situation, there are a few things. Firstly, I began trying to deal with certain problems that were amplified by my anxiety, one major affected area being my sleep. I began meditating, taking melatonin, and exercising more frequently, as was recommended by my doctor. Since the semester ended, I have been in contact with my doctor and we are going to be trying to see how else I can help the situation whether it¿¿s medications, or different remedies. I¿¿ve also opted to take next semester off for the sake of my health but will complete my studies at Queen¿¿s in the Winter 2020 semester.

Thank you for your consideration. If you need further clarification I¿¿d be happy to correspond with you accordingly.